The Swordfish Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fairey

The Fairey Aviation Company was founded in the UK in 1915. The company was taken over by Westland Aircraft in 1960.

The Swordfish was developed by Fairey in the early 1930s and first entered service with the UK's Fleet Air Arm in 1936. The aircraft was a fabric covered, metal framed biplane designed for use as a torpedo bomber and as a naval reconnaissance aircraft. Although the design was already outdated at the start of World War II the aircraft stayed in service for the duration of the war.

Answer: Coastal Command

A lot of the Swordfish in service during World War II were operated by the Fleet Air Arm which had been part of the Royal Navy since 1937. They were capable of operating from the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers as well as from modified merchant ships known as Merchant Aircraft Carriers or MACs.

The RAF's Coastal Command was started in 1936 and remained part of the RAF until it was disbanded as part of a restructure in 1969. Coastal Command's No. 119 Squadron flew the Mark III Swordfish which had been fitted with radar units and were used primarily to search for German midget submarines.

Answer: 18 feet

Swordfish doctrine for dropping torpedoes stated that the approach should be made at an altitude of 5000 feet before a dive to 18 feet at which altitude the torpedo should be released. A release distance from the target of 1000 feet was considered best as this gave the torpedo time to stabilise in the water before striking the target.

Answer: Rockets

The Mark II Swordfish was introduced in 1943. The main difference from the Mark I was the introduction of metal lower wings which made them stronger than the original fabric coated wings. This extra strength meant it could carry eight 60lb RP-3 rockets.

Answer: Taranto

The Battle of Taranto saw 19 Swordfish aircraft launched from HMS Illustrious attack the Italian fleet in the harbour at Taranto. The three Italian battleships in the harbour all suffered damage and the 'Conte di Cavour' sank in the harbour after a large hole was blown in her hull.

Despite predictions from the Royal Navy when planning the attack that the loss of Swordfish aircraft would be 50% only two aircraft were lost in the raid.

Answer: Canada

Most of the Mark IV Swordfish were converted from previous versions, with 110 Mark II aircraft being converted into Mark IVs. The Mark IV was the last production version of the Swordfish with production ceasing in 1944. The Mark IV was developed for use by the Royal Canadian Air Force and differed from previous versions due to the addition of an enclosed and heated cockpit.

Answer: Bismarck

Although the Swordfish aircraft from HMS Ark Royal only did minor damage they succeeded in jamming the Bismarck's rudders making her unmanoeuvrable. This enabled the Royal Navy's ships to attack Bismarck without her being able to make an escape.

Answer: Bristol Aeroplane Company

The Swordfish was powered by a Bristol Pegasus III engine capable of producing 690hp. The Pegasus was a nine cylinder radial engine. There are only two Bristol Pegasus engines still known to be in operation today; they can both be found in Swordfish aircraft operated in the UK by the Royal Navy Historic Flight.

Answer: 0

The 'Channel Dash', as it became known, was an operation during World War II in which a German Naval Squadron tried to get back to Germany from Brest in France despite a British Naval blockade in the English Channel. As part of the British response to the German ships six Swordfish aircraft were launched from RAF Manston in Kent.

The aircraft failed to do any damage to any of the ships. All six aircraft were lost in the attack after two of the three fighter squadrons which were supposed to protect the Swordfish failed to turn up. Only five of the eighteen Swordfish crew-members survived.

Answer: 143 mph

At an altitude of 5000 feet the Swordfish had a top speed of only 143mph. This was an incredibly slow top speed for an aircraft in World War II. For comparison the Mark 3 Lancaster Bomber, which weighed in at 36,900lb unladen compared to the Swordfish at 5,200lb, had a top speed of 287mph.

It is believed that the slow speed helped the Swordfish in some attacks as it was too slow for the fire control predictors on German ships to be effective.